Tuesday, 10 November 2015

Top 10 Tuesday: Middle Grade Movie Adaptation I'm Looking Forward To or MG Book To Movie Adaptation I Still Need To Watch

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish. Today it's all about film adaptations and some of the MGSB team have chosen the adaptations they are most looking forward to watching (some of which are verging on the hopeful), or film adaptations that we still need to see.1. Elen Caldecott - Howl's Moving Castle

I love Studio Ghibli (even the slower, pastel-hued offerings like The Wind Rises and The Tale of Princess Kaguya) AND I love Diana Wynne Jones. So, I have no idea why it has taken me forever to watch this adaptation. I think I'm just scared. What if two mastercraftspeople have ended up making a dog's dinner? Top Ten Tuesday might just force me over to Netflix!www.elencaldecott.com

2. Susie Day - The Secret World of Arrietty

What Elen said! Except this time it's the joy of Ghibli combined with Mary Norton's The Borrowers. I think my wariness comes from having seen some, er, less than stellar adaptations of Arrietty's tiny world of thievery, growing up and green baize doors. But if anyone can...susieday.com

3. Huw Powell - Magyk by Angie Sage

I met Angie at Bath Children's Literature Festival this year and cannot wait for her Septimus Heap books to be made into films. Not only are they exciting magical adventures about a wizard apprentice, they also contain cauldrons full of warmth and humour. Spellbinding stuff for the big screen!www.spacejackers.com

4. Darren Hartwell - Murder Most Unladylike by Robin Stevens

Ok, I don't know if this is cheating a little, but as Robin announced back in August that the Murder Most Unladylike Mysteries have been optioned for TV and film then they would have to appear right at the top of my list. I rarely get excited about film adaptations of great books (I've been disappointed too many times in the past - Percy Jackson? The Dark is Rising? Stormbreaker?), but Daisy Wells and Hazel Wong are made to be on the screen, although I would probably prefer a TV series over a big screen version. Think Poirot or Miss Marple, but for younger viewers - in the right hands they could quite easily become the essential Christmas Day viewing in the future.The Book Zone (For Boys)

5. Roz Isme - Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

I'm definitely cheating because it seems I've already seen all the MG movie adaptations that I've looked up. So this is one I'm looking forward to watching again. We all saw Harry, Hermione and Ron grow up on the screen, so to go back and see them right at the beginning will be a treat. I'll have to stop myself constantly saying 'Oh they're so cute!' After that I may as well watch all the other Harry Potter films too!

6. C.J. Busby - The Amulet of Samarkand, by Jonathan Stroud

This isn't being made into a film, but it should be. Apparently someone has the movie rights - please, hurry up and make it, before Johnny Depp is too old to play Bartimaeus! There's intrigue, magic, dark Victorian London streets and a wise-cracking djinn who gets all the best lines. There are loads of great characters, lots of action and a spectacular showdown at the end. I's definitely pay good money to see it.www.cjbusby.co.uk

7. Kieran Fanning - Artemis Fowl & His Dark Materials

The MG movie I'm most excited about seeing is Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer. After years of the movie nearly being made, news was released recently that it's definitely going ahead with Kenneth Branagh as director. Read the full story here. Only this week BBC confirmed a TV series of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials which is so exciting. Read about it here. Hopefully it'll be closer to the National Theatre's brilliant stage version than the 2006 movie, which was poor.www.kieranfanning.com

8. Harry Oulton - Two Jungle Books coming next year!

It's weird re-reading the original (very short) Jungle Book as you realise what an amazing job Disney actually did (how often do we say that?) - it's a proper adaptation in that they took the world and the incidents from the book and then shaped them into a proper cinematic structure. Like How to Train your Dragon, or Paddington. Maybe it's only films for Children that make the effort to do this? Anyway, live action Jungle Book coming next year. Twice! can't wait.harryoulton.co.uk

9. Abi Elphinstone - Wolf Brother by Michelle Paver

Few writers conjure up worlds as vividly as Michelle Paver. Her Chronicles of Ancient Darkness series plunge the reader back into the Stone Age where a boy, Torak, makes friends with a wolf and together they set out to destroy the demonic powers that killed Torak's father. Apparently someone, somewhere, is making a film of the first book, Wolf Brother. Paver's research was meticulous - she travelled to the forests of Finland to explore how people lived 6000 years ago and she spent time in a wolf sanctuary and with ravens in the Tower of London. It'll be a challenge to recreate her powerfully imagined world but if it's done well, it'll be spectacular. I can't wait...www.abielphinstone.com
@moontrug

10. Darren Hartwell - Mortal Engines by Philip Reeve and The Undrowned Child by Michelle LovricI get to have another choice! Hurrah! And I'm going to cheat again. Doubly so, as I'm going to name TWO more books that I think would make fabulous movies. The first is Philip Reeve's superb Mortal Engines - just imagine how incredible this would look on the big screen (especially if someone like George Miller, of Mad Max fame, got his hands on it as director). Gritty, post-apocalyptic action adventure! And the other one is Michelle Lovric's The Undrowned Child. Michelle is one of my favourite middle grade writers and I totally love her Venice-set fantasy stories. I would love to see Spielberg directing this one, or alternatively I would love to see a Studio Ghibli version - could someone please persuade Hayao Miyazaki to come out of retirement (again)?The Book Zone (For Boys)

1 comment:

see and I loved the His Dark Materials movie - was it as brilliant as the books? No. But was it fun? yes. I feel like everyone always criticizes it but the casting was PERFECT (Nicole Kidman as Marisa Coulter was great!). Ah well. I am curious about the new version for TV. :)

I also suggest you see Howl's Moving Castle. It isn't quite as good as the book but it is very lovely and fun on it's own. I really liked it a lot plus...Christian Bale (Batman/Laurie from Little Women/etc) is HOWL!!!!! XD

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Welcome to Middle Grade Strikes Back

We are a group of UK based writers and bloggers who have one important thing in common - we are passionate about middle grade fiction.

We appreciate that 'middle grade' is a term that is more traditionally used on the other side of the Atlantic, but these days it is becoming more commonly used in the UK. More importantly, it sounds so much better than 'Books For 8-13 Year Olds Strikes Back'.